VANCOUVER, British Columbia - When communism fell in the former Soviet
Union, James Bond suddenly had to find new bad guys, Ronald McDonald welcomed
an untapped market and the NHL no longer had to smuggle players across
borders.

And with the collapse of the USSR, so too fell the Soviet way of hockey,
its famous Red Army teams, and a style and system that bred some of the
most skilled and dynamic players over the past 30 years, players such as
Sergei Fedorov, Alexei Kovalev, Alexander Mogilny, Igor Larionov and other
All-Stars.

"There aren't many of those players left," said 23-year-old Russian
center Artem Chubarov of the Canucks.

The Dallas Stars and their fans have grown spoiled by one, defenseman
Sergei Zubov, who in the prime of his career is one of the final surviving,
and thriving, pieces of the USSR. Playing a dying style, his sustained
production continues to impress all, including one of his harshest critics.

"I think he's a little bit more aggressive now, not necessarily physically,
but the way he plays the game. He's a lot better than he used to be when
he was here in Pittsburgh," said Penguins center Mario Lemieux, who is
usually regarded as the player who had Zubov traded from the Penguins to
the Stars in June 1996.

"You know, if you look at his game all around, he's certainly improved
over the last few years," Lemieux said.

With a pair of power-play goals in the past two games, including one
in the Stars' 4-3 victory against the Canucks on Tuesday, Zubov moved past
the 10-goal mark for the ninth time in the past 10 seasons. His 53 points
ranks second on the Stars and fourth among NHL defensemen.

Lemieux must wonder why he ran Zubov out of town so many years ago.
At the time, he wanted Zubov to shoot more, a plea often heard any time
Zubov waits, waits and waits before either passing or shooting.

What Lemieux and many North Americans couldn't understand was that this
is the way Zubov was raised.

Though now a U.S. citizen who enjoys the fruits of capitalism as much
as any player - i.e. nice threads, cool car, slick shades, etc. - his game
is at the core Soviet: Controlled, thinking, passing, skating, precision,
timing, patience.

It's no different than Fedorov, Pavel Bure and the other few remaining
NHL veterans who were raised that way.

"To be honest, we grew up playing differently," Zubov said. "Right now,
I would say it's fading away a little bit. Russian kids now, and they get
it from the coaches, they look forward coming to the West and North America.
They play a more physical game now because that's what they look for here.
Sometimes they forget the Russian style.

"It's sad to see. It's hard to see."

Russian players of today, such as Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk or Anaheim's
Stanislav Chistov, may skate like gazelles and are equally skilled, but
their games would no more be equated solely to Russia than Mike Modano's
to suburban Detroit.

"If you watch (Fedorov) or Zubov play, it's not a physical game at all,"
Chubarov said. "The circumstances have changed. In Russia today, they look
for physical presence besides the skill. You are forced to do that. Unless
you have tons and tons of skill, you have to prove yourself some way else."

Zubov has tons and tons of skill. At one point with the Central Red
Army Team during an international competition in Germany, he played two
games at center, scoring two goals and two assists.

"If you watch him play, his ability to make a play before it happens
is exceptional," said former Blue Jackets coach Dave King, a veteran of
international competition. "He's always one play ahead. Chronologically
he might be 30, but he plays like he's 50. He's that much ahead of the
game."